Necessary, Not Unwise
by Sensara
Summary: "What is necessary is never unwise." Bridget Forrest would have died if Dr. Oratt had not acted so quickly, had he not gone against what was proper and put his reputation on the line for her life. What happens if that choice he made for her sake traps them both forever? Can they live with what was necessary? Rated T, some chapters may be M.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Enterprise or its characters, but the OC is mine. No copyright infringement intended.**_

 _ **A/N: A few years ago I promised a continuation of the virus stories glimpsed in "Boundaries of Devotion", but never delivered. Recently I thought up a slightly controversial story surrounding that virus or something like it, but for those of you who haven't read the previous story, I'll try to make the context clear for you. This is that story. This is not the exact universe in "Boundaries of Devotion", more like an AU take off of an AU story. Please don't kill me in the reviews. Enjoy.**_

 _What is necessary is never unwise._

The cries of the human women still rung in his ears as he recorded the last few bondings to be submitted to the High Command.

It was only yesterday afternoon that Oratt had been informed of a virus spreading rampant through the Earth Embassy. The male staff members were left untouched, but the females suffered extreme symptoms: vomiting, severe migraines, and even seizures, enough to drive most of them towards death. The ambassador immediately requested the help of Vulcan physicians to quell this outbreak and find answers, and Oratt was among those sent to help the humans, as he was one of the finest doctors in Shi'Kahr and held a seat on the Council of Physicians as a ranking member. He worked side-by-side with the human infirmary staff (composed entirely of men, as their women were some of the first to be struck down with this illness), searching tirelessly for an answer.

It took the team four hours to discover the virus' origin: the Embassy's water supply had been tainted with it, and even bathing or washing one's hands infected the body. Two more hours passed before they understood that the sickness was orchestrated, and its sole target was human women, carefully designed to break down synaptic pathways and wrack their entire bodies in pain.

"What kind of psychopath would do this?" a human doctor asked aloud, and Oratt privately agreed. Only a truly sick mind would construct something like this, perhaps as some perverted form of revenge, he thought. He may not have liked humans, but he did not like to see sentient beings suffer as these poor women suffered.

But from there they made no headway. Reldai were called in to review the data and provide a fresh perspective on this sickness of the mind, and even as they discussed possible solutions, three women died; all of the afflicted were gathered into the Embassy gymnasium for quarantine, and the virus was progressing more swiftly than they originally anticipated.

" _Their brainwaves are reminiscent of our males after a long period of unbonded isolation_ ," a priestess named T'Sar said blandly even as another scream echoed from the gymnasium down the hall. " _Their neurons begin to degrade and they experience increasingly intense headaches until a bond can be formed. Perhaps there is a connection to this affliction._ "

Thankfully by this time all of the human doctors had retired for the night, and Oratt was the first among those left to fully comprehend what T'Sar was suggesting. " _You are implying that the mental stimulation activated by a bond might cure them?_ "

T'Sar nodded. " _It is an option worth exploring. A small experiment will suffice to evaluate my hypothesis. I require one of you to assess their brainwaves whilst I administer the stimulation to ascertain its effects._ "

Oratt volunteered to accompany her to the gymnasium, but he suggested she first take a nasal numbing agent to protect her nose from the rancid odor of thirty-four sweaty human women and their collective vomit. T'Sar agreed, and then he walked with her down the hall towards the screams of the dying humans.

Their cries almost curdled his blood with their intensity and desperation. He had never been around humans experiencing this level of agony, as if they were being tortured, and it rankled his nerves even as he tried to suppress the horror he felt. T'Sar, however, was perfectly placid as she entered the room and walked serenely to the nearest human. The dark-haired female was covered in sweat as she lay limply on her cot, her eyes half-lidded in exhaustion, her expression twisted in pain. T'Sar, to her credit, knelt beside the woman without a hint of disgust and leaned forward to speak to her.

"Miss, I will touch your temples and reach into your mind to simulate a marital bond to ascertain if that will cure you."

"What?" the human said stupidly, sniffling pitifully as T'Sar reached out to her. "I don't understand."

Oratt sniffed in displeasure; the priestess had been quite clear in his opinion. But then, he had read and observed that when humans experienced extreme pain, their limited logic and reasoning was compromised. T'Sar explained herself in simpler terms, and the female agreed to it, desperate for any form of relief.

The priestess touched her slender fingers to the female's sweaty temples and closed her eyes, concentrating her mental energy on simulating a marital bond. Oratt glanced down at his scanner, and to his surprise, the human's brainwaves returned to normal. The female on the receiving end of this treatment moaned aloud as the priestess eased her pain, and something inside him lurched at the sound.

"Thank you," the human whispered breathlessly, and whatever it was inside him lurched harder. He swallowed thickly, suddenly uncomfortable, and with a halfhearted apology, T'Sar removed her fingers from the female. Immediately her expression twisted in agony, a whimper pushing past her lips, but the Reldai rose from her place and turned to the doctor.

" _It is confirmed_ ," she said softly. " _We must send word to every clan within twenty miles of Shi'Kahr, to send us their unbonded males immediately._ "

She turned and strode from the room, and he rushed after her, only catching up to her determined stride halfway down the hall. " _Honored T'Sai...surely you do not mean that our males must marry these women. How could they ever be proper wives for our men? They do not know our ways, our secrets-_ "

" _Enough_ ," she said, and her calm voice became harsh for a moment. " _You have had nearly twenty hours to find an alternative solution, and there is none. This will save thirty-four lives, and it has yet to be determined if a permanent bond is needed for a lasting cure. Perhaps these bonds can be severed once the women are healed, and our secrets may remain our own. But our secrets, however sacred, are not worth thirty-four innocent lives. If these bonds cannot be severed, they must bear our secrets with us and assimilate into our population._ "

His throat became too dry to offer a response, so he composed himself and delivered the news to one of his subordinates, who quickly ran to spread the word to the clans of Shi'Kahr province.

An hour later, two of the board rooms were filled with unbonded men come to cure the females, and Oratt left the briefing to the other Vulcan doctors. Some of the human infirmary staff had woken after a very short rest period and inquired after their progress, and though some expressed doubt over the prospect of seeing their females married to Vulcans, most of them were simply pleased a solution had been found.

"I don't envy those poor girls," one of the doctors muttered to his colleague, who nodded. "Stuck with a cold Vulcan for a husband..."

"These males are not especially eager to make this sacrifice for your people, Dr. Marcus," Oratt replied, and the two men started in shock, "but we will do it for the sake of our alliance. The Reldai have just informed me that the bonds will not need to be permanent in order to cure your females."

The two doctors were silent for a time, then moved away to whisper in private. Oratt chose to ignore them. He was relieved that he had not been conscripted by his clan mother to participate in this fiasco; some other man would be stuck with a human bride, and he would be free in his solitude.

And yet... _and yet..._

He could not help but dwell on the visceral sensation inside him when that female had felt the bond. Her moaning, her dazed, hooded eyes and the sight of her relief played over and over in his head, and the sound of her breathless "thank-you" was lodged in his mind, and the memory of that whisper sent chills down his spine. But she was only reacting to a stimulus, relieved that her pain was over. She could never be pleased in the bond, could never crave its gentle strum as a Vulcan did...as he did. Soon she would be separated from her new bondmate and set free to pursue a relationship with one of her own kind, as she was meant to.

Fifteen minutes later, he made the rounds and registered each couple with the High Command, with a notation that these bonds were temporary and that the records would have to be changed within the week. He was thanked for his service and was about to depart when a message came for him over the Embassy comm system.

He turned on the monitor and saw a Vulcan doctor in what looked like a hotel lobby, and the young man straightened his posture at the sight of his elder.

" _My name is Dr. Tunir, and I serve the western district in a local clinic. A call came in regarding a young human girl at this hotel, and though I have done all I can for her, I cannot find a cure. I had hoped someone with more experience with humans might be able to do more for her. Are you able to assist me or send someone with more knowledge than I?_ "

Oratt nodded. " _I will come immediately to tend to your patient. Where are you located?_ "

Tunir gave him the proper address, and Oratt rushed from the Embassy, flying over Shi'Kahr at top speed to reach the western district, making the trip in only eighteen minutes.

The hotel was small, but clean and neat as any respectable Vulcan establishment would be, and the woman at the service desk directed him to the second floor. Tunir opened the door when he found the correct room and wordlessly handed over his scanner, and Oratt ignored it for a moment as he strode quickly into the room.

An older human man sat on the other side of the bed, holding a young human female's hand. The girl looked no older than sixteen, and she was covered in sweat, her cheeks stained with tears. Oratt glanced down at the scanner and his heart stopped. She was exhibiting the same symptoms as the women at the Embassy; the readouts were identical.

Tunir winced as the girl cried out, seemingly wracked with abdominal pains. She clutched her stomach, then rolled onto her side towards the human man. He held up a trashcan, and the female vomited into it, shaking violently with the exertion.

"How long has she been like this?" Oratt asked, and the human man answered for Tunir.

"She's been vomiting on and off since yesterday evening. Dr. Tunir had to put her on an IV because she couldn't keep anything down, not even the tiniest sip of water."

Oratt frowned down at the girl. "Has she been inside the Earth Embassy, even to use the facilities?"

The human man stared at him. "We were in there yesterday morning because we needed a break from the heat. She used the bathroom and had a drink of water. But the others drank water too and they're not sick."

"The others?"

"I have four teenage boys with me in my group. All of these kids were chosen for an educational 'study abroad' sort of program. The High Command and Vulcan Science Academy approved it, you can look it up."

"Why you are here is not important. What matters is your visit to the Embassy," Oratt said ruefully. "This young woman has likely been infected with the same virus that afflicted the Embassy staff. We only just found the cure this afternoon."

"How quickly can a dosage be synthesized for her?" Tunir inquired, brightening at the news. "Or is there perhaps still surplus at the Embassy?"

Oratt opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He clamped his lips shut and swallowed around the dryness in his throat. " _Unfortunately,_ " he said slowly in Vulcan, his eyes fixed on the girl on the bed, " _there is no medicinal cure. Her brainwaves mimic those of an unbonded male who has been alone for some time. The degradation of the synaptic pathways match almost perfectly. Therefore, the Reldai have concluded that the solution to this ailment...is a marital bond. The women at the Embassy have already been treated and–_ "

He was cut off when the female cried out, clutching her stomach and sobbing outright. He winced at the sight, and her sobbing chilled his blood.

"How old is she?" Oratt asked the human man.

"She's seventeen," he replied.

He blinked in surprise, and a peculiar sensation occurred in the middle of his upper abdomen where his stomach resided. The organ felt as if it had dropped into a position between his hips, and the sensation made him feel quite ill.

" _She's a child,_ " he muttered to himself, but he straightened and turned to Tunir. " _You must help her, then._ "

But even as he said it, he knew he was wrong. A bond glimmered in the younger doctor's eyes, and Tunir shook his head.

" _I am bonded, Osu._ "

" _Do you have any sons in her age range?_ "

" _I have one son, but he is nine, and already base bonded. My wife is with another child, due in three months_."

Oratt sighed in mounting frustration. " _The owner of this hotel–_ "

"– _Is a woman. I know her, and she is childless._ "

" _Do you have any unbonded nephews or cousins?_ "

Tunir paused. " _I have an unbonded nephew, and he is nineteen years of age, but he is in Gol with his mother._ "

The girl cried out again, and her body convulsed in violent spasms. The scanner in Oratt's hands beeped in warning, and he glanced down at the readout; her brainwaves were erratic, her vitals failing rapidly.

" _He would never get here in time, nor would any other man,_ " Tunir insisted, " _and you are unbonded, Osu, I can see it in your eyes. You must help her. We do not have the time to call upon anyone else._ "

He gaped at the younger man, though he did not mean to. Another cry from the girl brought him out of his momentary stupor, and he shook his head in vehement protest.

" _She is a child!_ " he said, and his voice came out like a whisper. " _I am old enough to be her great-great-forefather._ "

"She is dying," Tunir pressed, switching to Earth Standard and pointing to the scanner in his hand. "You are her only hope."

Oratt swallowed thickly and slowly advanced towards the bed, where the girl stared up at him with wide blue eyes. Her dark auburn hair, which yesterday had been pulled back into a neat braid, was tangled, flared out messily on the pillow. Her cheeks were flushed an almost garish shade of pink while the rest of her face was white as bleached bones. She looked utterly exhausted, and terrified, and miserable. He sat beside her.

For a moment he could think of nothing to say. "Tell me your name," he said softly.

"Bridget," she replied. "Bridget Forrest...please help me, sir...I'm only seventeen and I..." Tears welled in her eyes. "I don't want to die."

She moaned in pain, her expression pinched as another wave of pain shook her body. The convulsions had lessened, but he knew in his heart that she would not last much longer.

"That which is necessary is never unwise."

He heard Tunir's words, and they were cold comfort in this most unusual and uncomfortable circumstance. A sharp glance in his direction made younger man frown, but Oratt softened his expression in silent apology, and sighed.

" _Let it be known that I did not want this_ ," he said clearly, but quietly, in defeat, in resignation. There was no other logical option to save this girl. He adjusted himself so he could face her more comfortably, and her eyes lolled shut as he propped her up on her pillows.

"Bridget Forrest." He made his voice as gentle as he could as he pushed her tangled locks away from her neck, giving him access to her psi points. "You will feel a slight pressure across your forehead. Do not resist this pressure, or it will hurt even more. You must relax, understood?"

"Anything," she whispered desperately. "Please, whatever you can do."

"What are you planning to do?" the human man said suddenly, and Oratt glared at him.

"I am sacrificing my dignity to save this girl," he groused. "If I had any other logical alternative, I would take it. I realize she is underage, but this bond need not be permanent, and–"

"You're going to _bond with her_?"

"I am afraid I must. The bond will stabilize her and destroy the virus causing this. Without it, she will die. Three have already perished from this and she is running out of time. Please, I do not like this any more than you do, but this must be done, or we will lose her."

The man opened his mouth, then swallowed thickly and nodded.

He sighed again and placed his hands firmly on the expanse of skin between her jaw and neck, almost cupping her face. The effect on her was immediate; she relaxed into his touch, sighing in relief, and the garish blotches on her cheeks softened to a lighter pink. She fixed her tired blue eyes on him and smiled, and he knew it would be acceptable to press forward.

A moan tumbled from her lips as he began the ritual, and the human man beside him winced in discomfort. Not that he blamed him. The wanton groans she produced were highly inappropriate, and made him rather uncomfortable. It could not be helped, however, and he proceeded, carefully pressing in on her mind.

She gasped, and he breathed in sharply; with minimal coaxing, her mind was open to him, her thoughts laid before him like pages in a book. He was dimly aware of her eyes blowing wide with the sensation, but he did not allow his focus to stray from properly laying the foundation for the bond to come. Now she was _telsu_ to him, more than engaged yet less than married, and he could clearly feel the myriad of emotions pouring forth from her: surprise, relief, fear, confusion, all webbed together like a tangled ball of string. But it was not over, unfortunately. He had to press onward, make her his in total, and he sought the deepest portion of her mind, awash in her fear and relief.

"Whatever you're doing, don't stop," he heard her whisper, only dimly aware of her voice. "That's helping so much."

He did not bother with a reply, but pushed into the core of her mind. She arched her back, clearly overwhelmed with the sensation, and even buried in her mind as he was, he heard her wordless exclamation. Instinct told him when to lay the 'anchor' of the bond, and he carefully retreated from her thoughts, carrying a part of her with him as he came back to himself and reality.

She collapsed back onto the pillows, blinking heavily with exhaustion, but through her tears (of relief, he knew), she smiled at him.

"Thank you," she breathed, and then drifted into unconsciousness.

Oratt straightened and removed his hands from her face, and the man next to him fidgeted in discomfort.

"Is she going to be ok now?" he asked, and the doctor turned to him.

"Yes, her vitals are returning to their normal state. If you will excuse me, I believe I will meditate at this time."

"Don't go just yet, I have questions!"

"Such as?" Oratt glared at the man, but to his surprise, the man did not wither.

"Firstly, you said this bond doesn't need to be permanent, right?"

"Correct."

But the human pressed on. "When can it be undone?"

Oratt looked down at the girl, watched her chest rise and fall. "When she is well enough to travel. It will take a few days at least for her to be strong enough to endure breaking the bond. However, since we will only be connected for a few days, it will not be difficult to sever."

"We're leaving for Gol in two days," the man continued, his shoulders relaxing. "Will she be well enough to go with us? We all go or no one goes. I can't leave her here alone."

"I do not know if she will be well enough to travel in two days. However, I believe it would be best if I stayed here with her to monitor her condition."

"I thought you said she was healed," the man said with a frown.

"I am positive she is, but that does not mean monitoring her would be unwise. She was ill for longer than the other women, and though Dr. Tunir did everything he could to help her, we are not yet sure what longer exposure might have done to her. I will stay, and monitor her, but now I must meditate. If you will excuse me, I believe any other inquiries you have can wait until I return. Contact me if she wakes."

"How?" the human said, sitting back down. "I don't have your number."

"Contact the proprietor of this hotel, then. I will rent a room here for the duration of my stay. Now, if you will excuse me..."

He glanced one more time at the girl, sighing heavily, then turned and walked quickly out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**_

 _ **A/N: I'm glad everyone is enjoying this so far. To be honest, I uploaded the first chapter near April Fool's so that if the feedback was bad, I could take it down and save face. But if you guys are down for the ride, I'll take you on this weird journey with me. Buckle up.**_

His finger hovered over the _send message_ button, re-reading the form for the seventh time. _June 20_ _th_ _, 2147. Oratt of Shi'Kahr and Bridget Forrest of San Francisco, CA, United Earth: bonded in matrimony._ He had included a short note explaining his reasoning and highlighting his plans to dissolve this bond as soon as possible, and with a deep breath, he sent his message. He turned his attention, then, to a short note to his clan mother, with a copy of the form attached.

 _I hope you will see my reasoning, honored mother; the girl's vitals were failing at an accelerated rate, and though a better candidate was mentioned, the young man in question is in Gol at this time, and could not come quickly enough to save the human. I plan to relinquish this girl as soon as she is strong enough to make the journey to Seleya. Or, if it pleases my honored mother, we could make the trip to the Golian temple and have this unfortunate occurrence resolved there._

 _Live long and prosper,_

 _Oratt, son of Oramik_

And so it was done. The High Command returned a confirmation notice on his bonding, with no postscript attached; he imagined there was not much else to say on the matter. He had bonded to the girl in order to save her life, and all he could do was wait for her to regain her strength so they might be free of each other.

Out of curiosity, he leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and contemplated the bond. It was a terrible thing that he felt so stable and whole from its presence in his mind. His loneliness was abating, his innermost beast rejoicing in the companionship this bond offered. But he stepped back from that thought, examining the connection with an unfeeling, scientific view: he had done an adequate job of connecting her to himself, and he could feel her slumbering mind graze his. She was at peace, he knew, carried away with her exhaustion into a dreamless sleep. He wondered if, when she slept again, they might share a dream. His curious side was eager to see what humans dreamt of, as he had heard they were sometimes very strange, and that humans, with practice, had the ability to take control of their dreams. When he dreamt, it was always of loneliness, of death, of abandonment. But humans, the rumors said, could dream of anything from being late to work to flying above the clouds to finding themselves in a lover's embrace.

He felt himself flush at the thought and quickly turned his mind to other matters. He should not be examining this bond, he told himself, but rather distancing himself from it so that he might relinquish this child with ease when the time came. So he sat down in the little meditation alcove in the corner of the room and meditated on a passage from Surak's writings that he had read only two days ago. And yet it did not escape his notice that meditating was less difficult now, that he fell into his mantras with ease where previously it took approximately two minutes of deep breathing before he could transition into mantras. No doubt this was a side effect of his recent bonding, but he resolved not to dwell on it. He would let that fact be.

The girl slept on late into the afternoon, and after he had taken his midday meal, the proprietor of the hotel informed him that he had a visitor.

L'Maat held the same rank as him in the Council of Physicians, and one of the only things they could ever agree on was their position on humans; the Earthlings were too impulsive, irrational and arrogant for their own good. But L'Maat, it seemed, liked to challenge Oratt at every turn, even on positions that were perfectly logical. The man had a talent for finding the tiniest of flaws in an argument and ballooning them to a much greater issue than they really were, and Oratt had the notion that his colleague was here to tease him on his recent bonding.

Indeed, the man nearly swaggered in, looking like a _sehlat_ who had just swallowed a bird.

"I rejoice with thee, Oratt of Shi'Kahr, over your new wife. She must be lovely." It was just as he suspected, but he did not take the bait.

"Was there something you required, doctor?" he asked, and L'Maat's smirk widened.

"How old is she? I heard a rumor that you married a child of thirteen."

"She is seventeen, almost an adult, but that is beside the point. I bonded with her to save her, and she will be free of me soon enough."

"Is that what you told yourself? That it was for her own good? The women at the Embassy required our aid, but a child?"

Oratt narrowed his eyes in victory, finally seeing an opening. "You forget that humans become adults in body as soon as eleven, sometimes even sooner for their females. A very strange quirk of their biology, but therein is the strangest part of this: the virus was meant to target human women, and a child, who is by technicality a woman in body, was caught up in the disaster. That does not make it any easier to bear the fact that she is stuck with me until the bond can be dissolved...but do not take my word for it. Another doctor was present, and it was only at his urging that I am in this predicament at all."

L'Maat frowned down at him, but Oratt stayed calm. "Was there anything else?"

As the younger doctor contemplated his next move, Oratt felt the girl stir slightly from her rest. He was in no mood to humor L'Maat further, so he made his excuses, packed his medical kit and brushed past his fellow doctor, hurrying towards the kitchens.

By the time he had a tray arranged for her, he could feel she was fully awake, yet weary and incredibly hungry. Conflicting emotions swirled around in her head (he could feel their potency despite the physical distance between them): confusion, relief, sadness...and an overwhelming sense of dread.

To make matters more interesting, he could hear several hushed voices (at least to human ears) as he approached her door. A young man spoke up as Oratt reached for the doorknob, and it gave him pause.

"Ok, so you're saying we're not going to Gol at all? It's not going to just be a one-day delay here, we're positively not going?"

"We can't go." He recognized the teacher's voice. "Not only will she not be able to get this sorted out until later this week, the Earth Embassy just issued a quarantine for everyone who was infected, until we know whatever she caught wasn't contagious."

"But we didn't get sick!" a different male voice from the first protested.

"You may not have shown symptoms, but you still carry this virus inside you. All of us do. Now...we're just going to relax here and get some work done. I'll work with the university and the Embassy and see if we can't shuffle our itinerary around for the last two days of this trip, alright?"

He heard grumbling from the male students, and since the conversation seemed to have come to a close, he raised his hand and knocked. The room went silent, and he heard footsteps approaching the door.

The teacher answered and frowned at him in apparent surprise. "Hello again, doctor. Was there something you needed?" The human eyed the tray he had brought with confusion in his eyes.

"Ms. Forrest is awake, and she is hungry, so I brought her sustenance."

"But how do you know she...right." The man stepped aside and let him in the room, and Oratt eyed the young men gathered at the foot of the bed, glaring at the lot of them. This bond was only temporary, but it still made him uncomfortable to have so many men lingering around his young bride, especially when she was so vulnerable.

"Alright, boys, go back to your rooms. I'll find an assignment for you in a few minutes, ok?"

The students didn't seem to know what to say to him, and the teacher quickly ushered them from the room. When the door was closed once again, Oratt rounded on the man (who hadn't left with his charges).

"Was holding your meeting here in her room truly necessary?" he groused. "Surely you could have met somewhere else."

The teacher frowned. "I can't leave her alone, doctor. I don't feel safe doing that. Not until I'm absolutely sure she's back to normal."

The Vulcan narrowed his eyes at the man, but sighed, turning his attention to the girl on the bed, who was sitting up, awake and aware. She stared at him incredulously, and he could feel multiple emotions vying for dominance in her mind, a strange mixture of apprehension, dread, relief, gratitude and a few others he didn't care to identify. He set the tray down in her lap and sat beside her, and she frowned up at him.

"For me?" she said, her voice a quiet croak. She cleared her throat and slowly reached for the tea, but looked up at him, as if asking permission.

"I would not have set it in your lap if I did not intend for you to consume it," he replied simply. She picked up the teacup and took a large sip of the brew, testing it. A sensation of surprise and contentment rippled through the bond, and he suppressed a shiver.

"Thank you." Her voice was barely a whisper, but his superior hearing caught it anyway. He inclined his head in solemn answer, watching as she drank the rest of the tea. He could feel her hunger rumbling in her abdomen, and though she hesitated, she eventually gave in to instinct, and put a forkful of food in her mouth.

In hindsight, perhaps it would have been wiser to leave her to her own devices instead of watching her eat. He could only justify staying by telling himself he was watching over his patient, to ensure she was ingesting the necessary calories to return to full health, which was in turn necessary for them to dissolve this bond as quickly as possible.

And yet as ripple after ripple of pleasure made the bond tremble between them, he couldn't help but wish he had thought to leave. How was it that humans were so open, so _raw_? Every sensation that touched her, every fleeting thought and feeling and wish was tangible, and the thrill and shock of it, of being so close to a bondmate after so many years alone...

His fingertips began to tingle.

It was a relief when she finally finished, and he nodded in satisfaction, sensing that she was full. "Better?" he asked, somewhat redundantly (as he knew full well the meal he had brought her had improved her condition).

She busied herself arranging the empty dishes on the tray. "Yes, thank you," she said, her voice a little stronger.

He took the tray from her, setting it on the bedside table so he could scan her. She stayed silent throughout the examination, letting him inject her with a pain reliever after he had completed his scans. She was slowly but steadily returning to full health, and at her current progress, she would be completely healed in four days at most.

She rubbed the injection point on her neck as he packed away his equipment, and he felt a surge of curiosity and doubt, as if she were summoning the courage to ask him something. He looked at her, noticing a surprised flinch pass over her face as their gazes locked.

"I..." Her voice came out smoother, no doubt the result of her finally rehydrating herself. "I don't know your name."

He blinked, then bowed his head. "My name is Doctor Oratt, of Shi'Kahr. You are well on your way to being fully healed, Ms. Forrest, and in a few days, you should be well enough to accompany me to Seleya, to have this bond undone."

"Right," she whispered, staring at the empty tray. "So...what happens in the meantime? Are you staying here or...well...I'm sure you're very busy."

"I have rented a room here, so I may stay and monitor your progress."

"Oh." He felt her nervousness, and an irritation that wasn't directed at him. He tilted his head, confused at her frustration.

"Um..." She sighed, reluctantly meeting his gaze again. "Did I thank you? For what you did? I can't remember."

"Yes, you thanked me," he assured her, and she relaxed. Before she could say anything more, he turned to the teacher, who watched their exchange with an incredulous stare. "So long as you do not make her exert herself physically, you are free to proceed with the assignments you were to give to the others. She should be well enough to handle it."

The man simply nodded, and he turned back to his patient. "If there is nothing else, I will return this tray to the kitchen. Call if you require anything further."

He had just reached the door when he heard her speak. "Will it hurt?"

Those bright blue eyes crackled with worry as he met her gaze again, and he sighed. "It is...there is a certain...ache about it, I suppose. The sensation should be temporary."

"So you've done this before?"

He frowned, and he could feel her heartbeat skyrocket. Her worry and shame made the bond spark, and he restrained himself from sending her calm through it; he would have to soothe her with words. It was best not to access this bond if he could help it.

"I'm sorry," she said in response to his silence. "That was too personal. Forget I said anything."

"Yes." Her eyes found his once more, as if drawn by some unseen force. "I have done this before."

"And what about after? Does it get better?"

His gaze dropped to the tray in his hands, his focus on the arrangement of dishes, on every angle they made, how the eating utensil intersected with the plate, how the scent of tea still lingered in the air...

A long minute of silence passed before he sighed. "Good day, Ms. Forrest."

Even after he had closed the door and left her presence, he could still feel shame cutting into him like a knife. Her shame, not his. Her emotions, her thoughts...all was open with her. He could read her expressions like words on a page, and her thoughts clouded his concentration. _I will be free of this soon enough_ , he reminded himself. _She will be free of me._

He sighed again and returned to his meditations.


End file.
